REACH LA NEWS

Through the pouring rain, these dedicated young men made it to the first Ovahness Summit held at Plummer Park last Saturday. The Summit successfully brought together 50 young men of color to attend a series of roundtable discussions aimed at self empowerment, priority setting and health. Under the direction of Greg Wilson, the event was the brain child of the Ovahness Leaders, who in the last 9 months planned, trained and facilitated all of the roundtable discussions. Resources people from Childrens Hospital Division of Adolescent Medicine - Young United Men, HIV Youth Testing Collaborative and 3P Programs, AIDS Project Los Angeles, AmMassi Center and REACH LA were available to provide information not only about their programs, but were resources on spirituality, social service navigation, housing and transitional living and education. In addition to FREE HIV testing, LA County STD Program provided free screening for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. To cap off the day the Ovahness Leaders chose Justin Reed Early, author of the autobiographical book “Street Child: An Unpaved Passage” to provide a closing keynote address. The event was sponsored by a grant from the Colin Higgins Foundation. More pictures to come.

REACH LA’s Greg Wilson graduated from the CDC/ASPH Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership in Atlanta on Friday, September 25. After nine months of intensive program development, organizational assessment and program intervention planning, it was time to present to a community panel consisting of leadership from the Centers for Disease Control, HIV/AIDS program leaders, activists and peers. Greg proudly presented a fund development plan he developed for REACH LA that would help to sustain program activity and make the organization less dependent on government funding. The presentation showed the ways REACH LA searches for “unrestricted” funding that would allow for creative outreach efforts that provided the means for HIV prevention intervention, development of community relations and provided sponsorship opportunities that contributed to program activities. Greg Wilson is the Ovahness Men’s Leadership Coordinator at REACH LA. Congratulations Greg on this great accomplishment!

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, July 25, 2009

Categories are posted on myspace.com/ovahness

REACH LA is proud to announce that Francisco (Frank) Armenta, 20, REACH LA’s own Ovahness Leader, has received the 2009 Courage Award by the Colin Higgins Foundation. Frank is one of three national winners who will be honored at the Trevor Project Gala in New York City on June 29, 2009.

Battling homophobia on a daily basis in East Los Angeles, Frank was routinely called a “faggot” throughout high school. After being kicked out of class by a teacher for “gay” artwork on his binder, Frank called a parent-teacher meeting, only to learn that his Mexican-Catholic family would not stand up for him due to their embarrassment that he was gay. This experience fueled him to become an activist, spanning from collaborating with the GSA to design a new web-based campaign, ”Be An Ally”, to support gay youth at his predominantly Latino high school, to becoming the youngest certified HIV Counselor and Tester in LA county. Through his activism to increase youth HIV testing, Frank has been able to provide invaluable recommendations to key policy makers on best practices for treating queer youth of color during the testing process. Currently, Frank works at REACH LA as a Social Enterprise Assistant and Peer Health Counselor, and continues to fuse his passion for graphic art design with his activism by creating all the electronic and print media for the Ovahness program serving queer young men of color. He also helps support other community LGBT youth groups such as Connect to Protect by creating original designs for their marketing materials and media campaigns.

Ana Lopez, REACH LA’s former Outreach Coordinator, also received the Courage Award honor in 2006.

LBGTQ YOUTH VIDEOS @ MEDIA STUDIES SPRING SCREENING

WEDNESDAY MAY 6th at 6:00PM
BROAD PERFORMANCE SPACE
PITZER COLLEGE • 1050 N. MILLS AVE • CLAREMONT • 91711

MEDIA ARTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE PRESENTS
Student lead media in community projects

The Pretty Boy Empire - Video Letters to ObamaThese video letters were created at the first ever Gay Youth of Color Inaugural Ball in Los Angeles - featuring LGBT Hip Hop artists, including Melange Lavonne, Deadlee, and Last Offense
MASJ student: Rebecca Nachison
Pretty Boy Empire - Project Adviser: Maurice Lopez
(aka the Pretty Boy King of Hollywood)

Unheard Voices of Transgender Youth
A series of short videos by transgender youth of color about issues of self-esteem, spirituality, social stigma and “clocking”. Produced in collaboration with Children’s Hospital Transgender Youth Program.
MASJ Students: Ivana Horvat and Hannah Fox
CHLA Project Adviser: Bamby Salcedo
Participants: The CHLA Transgender Youth Risk Reduction Program.

The REACH for OVAHNESS Talk Show
Two episodes of a new talk show made for and by young black gay men about issues that are important to this community.
MASJ students: Paul Bergman and Jacqueline Legazcue
REACH LA Project Advisers: Tyrone Carter, Greg Wilson, Chris Blades, and Kafi Battersby.
Community Guests/Show Hosts: The Young Men’s Ovahness Leadership Team from REACH LA - Kyle Butler, Stephan Daniels, Devaughn Sherman, and Robert Howell

ALSO AT THIS EVENT - REACH LA’s YOUNG MEN’S OVAHNESS LEADERSHIP TEAM will be selling cool t-shirts and canvas bags designed in-house by the REACH LA Social Enterprise Team to raise money for their youth HIV prevention program.

For more information about this event contact:
Gina Lamb lambgina@yahoo.com

Wednesday, April 8th from 7-9pm: The Ovahness Leadership presents “Crystal, Speeding Out of Control” - a presentation and discussion about crystal meth with Mike Rizzo, Manager of Crystal Meth Recovery Services at LA Gay & Lesbian Center.
Learn about crystal meth, how it effects our bodies and mind. Learn how to identify use of crystal meth and how to talk candidly with family, peers and others about substance use and recovery. Light snacks and beverages served. All are welcome. For more information contact Tyrone at 213-622-1650 x104, or tyrone_reachla@earthlink.net

Tuesday, April 14th - The Legend Returns to Present… The Grundge, Legend Lessons Part 2: Don’t Come For Me!” BQ Vogue Performance sponsored by REACH LA For more information contact Greg at 213-622-1650 x109, or greg_reachla@earthlink.net

Wednesday, April 22, 7pm-9pm - Ovahness Book Club book signing and discussion “Shaming the Devil,” by G. Winston James . Author is scheduled to attend. For more information contact Greg at 213-622-1650 x109 or greg_reachla@earthlink.net

Saturday, April 25, 3:30-6:00pm - Ovahness Academy: Elements of Vogue. Learn how to master the 5 elements of Vogue Fem w/Of the Year’s Enyce Chanel, Stacy Chanel, and Joey Mizrahi. Hollywood Dance Center, 817 Highland Avenue, Hollywood, 90038
For more information contact Chris at 213-622-1650 x108

Justin Early author of Street Child: An Unpaved Passage made a huge impression on the OVAHNESS and G2G Leaders when he made a guest appearance at the first REACH LA Book Club night on 1/28/09. OVAHNESS Leaders Kyle Baker and Robert Howell hosted a lively discussion between Justin Early and the audience. Justin read a powerful chapter as part of the presentation as the audience read along with their own well worn copies. Many of youth admitted that this was the first book that they had read cover to cover since high school.

The Alliance for CA Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation recently awarded RLA with a grant for $6,500 to launch the OVAHNESS Ball Performance Project, a series of workshops on the history, artistry and cultural traditions of “House/Ball” performance. “One evening REACH LA hosted a movie night featuring the film “How Do I Look,” a 2006 documentary by Wolfgang Busch about the NY House and Ball scene and the office was packed with house kids,” says Executive Director Martha Chono-Helsley, “a woman began to tell her story about how she was the one credited for creating “Stars, Statements & Legends,” - a favorite part at the beginning of every ball by all, and the kids had no connection or respect for this woman for this major contribution to ball culture. That was when we realized that there was a disconnect between the artistry and tradition and the current scene.” The REACH LA produced film “I’m Still Here: Becoming Legendary” whose intense vogue performances caught the attention of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts who after attending the Ovahness 3 Ball, encouraged REACH LA to apply. Staff and Ovahness Leaders developed a unique proposal to intertwine the Westcoast history and tradition of Ball performance with hands-on training and coaching by “Legendary” masters in Old Way/New Way; Vogue Performance; European and American Runway and Performance Commentary. The workshops are schedule to begin in late February. Check back to this site for workshops dates and times. Contact: Chris Blades at 213-622-1650 x108 for more information.

REACH LA’s Greg Wilson, Assistant Manager of the Ovahness Young Men’s Health Program was selected to participate in the 2009 class of the CDC/ASPH’s Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership. “It is a great honor for Greg to be accepted into this program,” says Executive Director Martha Chono-Helsley, “his selection indicates that the CDC is making an investment in our work by selecting both Tyrone and Greg to be a part of such a prestigious program.” Tyrone Carter, Manager of the Ovahness Young Men’s Health Program recently graduated in September 2008 from the Leadership program. According to Carter, the Institute program was quite challanging but provided the opportunity to learn from the best HIV prevention people in the U.S. The CDC/ASPH’s Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership program includes 4 intensive week long sessions that cover topics of program development, best practice implementation, program evaluation, epidemology, and organization leadership.

REACH LA’s OVAHNESS Team took Ft. Lauderdale by storm by attending the United States Conference on AIDS from September 17-21, 2008. The OVAHNESS Team was selected to facilitate “Using Youth Leaders to Strengthen Your Program” roundtable on September 19. The session was a standing room only success with the OVAHNESS Leaders providing insight into why they are involved with REACH LA, volunteerism, strategies for engagement, and how agencies and organizations can retain youth leadership. Executive Director Martha Chono-Helsley provided the organizational/agency insight by sharing how youth engagement has increased organizational capacity to reach new youth, “Once they come to REACH LA and meet the staff and volunteers, we got them. We work really hard to create a “youth friendly” environment in which to work and learn.” Frank Armenta, 20, REACH LA’s home-grown graphic designer and HIV Counseling and Testing counselor shared his story of coming in to the organization through the media arts program, “REACH took an interest in me - they encouraged and trained me in social marketing and enterprise in order to reach out to others.” Devaughn Sherman, Kyle Butler, Stacy Alford, Chris Blades, Ivanie Murphy , Greg Wilson and Tyrone Carter rounded out the team. The OVAHNESS Team also attended many of the workshop presentations and helped run the REACH LA Booth in the exhibition hall. Social Enterprise Manager Sean Milan Harris said “This is the most OVAHNESS merchandise we’ve sold to date. Having the OVAHNESS Team there in the booth gives the buyer the opportunity to see where their money goes.” More pictures to come…